Egypt Museum ancient Egypt art culture and history

Tutankhamun's Box Decorated with Tyet and Djed Signs

Tutankhamun Box with Djed and Tyet Signs

This rectangular box with djed and tyet signs was found in the annex of the tomb of Tutankhamun. It stands on four slim elegant legs and the panels are made of cedar wood. At the bottom of the box is an alternating decoration of fretwork hieroglyphs. The Tyet sign, the symbol of the blood of...

Lotus shaped pendant of vizier Imhotep. Egyptian Museum of Turin. S. 5108

Lotus pendant of vizier Imhotep

A lotus flower shaped pendant once belonged to the Vizier Imhotep, a high official in the royal court of King Thutmose I. Excavated by Ernesto Schiaparelli and Francesco Ballerini from his tomb (QV46), Valley of the Queens, Thebes. The lotus was shown throughout Egypt in tombs and temples to symbolize the union of Upper and...

Statuette of a Cat

Statuette of a Cat

The statuette represents the traditional image of a seated cat, with its tail placed on the ground along the right side of the body. The eyes are inlaid with gold. One of the rock crystal pupils that once decorated the eyes has been lost. The skillful technique and delicate elaboration of the body contours and...

Mummy of Djedptahiufankh

Mummy of Djedptahiufankh

Djed-Ptah-Iuf-Ankh was a priest, and examination of his mummified remains revealed that he died as a young man. He was buried at Deir el-Bahari Cachette (DB320), West Thebes. Djed-Ptah-Iuf-Ankh, held the title of, “Second Prophet of Amun” during Shoshenq I’s reign in the 22nd Dynasty. Djed-Ptah-Iuf-Ankh is only known from his burial and mummy. He...

Egyptian blue faience necklace decorated with wadjet eye

Necklace decorated with wadjet eye

Thirteen separate protective wadjet eye amulets, made from Egyptian faience in molds, decorate this necklace. The most popular of all Egyptian amulets was the wadjet eye, which was worn to promote health and well-being. The mythological origin of this symbol is rooted in the struggle between Horus, who was the rightful heir to the throne...

The God Nun Raises the Sun

God Nun Raises the Sun

Nun or Nu, god of the primeval waters, origin of all life and chaos, lifts the barque of the sun god Re (represented by both the scarab and the sun disk) into the sky at the beginning of time. Nut, goddess of the Sky, is hanging from above, holding the god Osiris, also hanging from...

Book of the Dead of Nestanebetisheru

Book of the Dead of Nestanebetisheru

Vignette from Book of the Dead of Nestanebetisheru; frame 87. Full page black line vignette of Geb, Nut and Shu with three registers either side of adoring ancient Egyptian gatekeepers, ba’s and deities including Thoth. Every figure has an accompanying hieroglyphic label written in black ink. Geb is shown as a semi-recumbent figure stretching out...

Weighing of the Heart in the court of Osiris

The Weighing of the Heart in the court of Osiris

One of the best-known vignettes in the Book of the Dead is that of the weighing of the heart (“psychostasia”) in the tribunal of the Double Truth, in the presence of Osiris and other gods of the netherworld. Chapter 125 of Book of Dead, Papyrus of Taysnakht, daughter of Taymes. The heart of the deceased...

Wall Paintings in the Tomb of Queen Nefertari

Wall Paintings in the Tomb of Queen Nefertari

The image shows a wall paintings and ceiling within the burial chamber of the tomb of Queen Nefertari. The ceiling is painted with stars to represent the night sky. The tomb of Queen Nefertari in the Valley of the Queens at West Thebes, is one of the best preserved and most ornately decorated of all...

Litany of Re with Scenes of Anubis

Litany of Re with Scenes of Anubis

Besides the Litany of Re, we find the vignette of Chapter 151 of the Book of the Dead. It represents the mummification of the dead king under the protection of Anubis, Isis, Nephthys and the Four Sons of Horus. Detail on the ceiling in the Tomb of Siptah (KV47), Valley of the Kings, West Thebes....